Engagementer i verden: En kritisk-teoretisk undersøgelse af unges engagementer og politiske dannelse i konteksten af en kommunal offentlighed

This thesis explores the potential for the everyday experiences of children and young people to be more integrated into the public sphere as part of political Bildung processes. It examines the questions: What kinds of engagements unfold in the lifeworld of young people, and can these be understood as political Bildung processes? What opportunities exist to contribute to young people’s political
Bildung and to create connections between engagements in the lifeworld of young people and a municipal public sphere, and what role can municipal youth work play in this context? The thesis is grounded in a critical-theoretical approach, focusing on young people’s lifeworld as a horizon for communicative actions, and how experiences from the lifeworld through a municipal public
sphere become generalized and action-guiding for the political-administrative system. From an engagement sociological perspective, it also examines how young people practically engage in the world through everyday actions. The questions are answered using an empirical study based in Holbæk Municipality, involving interviews with 22 young people about their engagements, as well as an action research program associated with UngHolbæk, which organizes the municipal youth work in Holbæk Municipality.

Based on the interviews, different forms of engagement are identified. There is an
intimate and a social engagement, both creating safety through close relationships. While intimate engagement primarily occurs within the family and private spaces, social engagement manifests in friendships and various types of spaces. Institutional engagement involves participation in the education system, and civic engagement includes activities in associations and workplaces. Deliberative engagement focuses on developing and communicating
opinions, while expressive engagement is about expressing one’s identity through material and social actions. The potential for political Bildung exists in all these forms of engagement, especially through the verbalization of the quieter aspects of the engagements. To understand them as political Bildung processes, one must focus through communicative processes on the moments in the engagements that the thesis describes as ambivalent experiences and dedications to the world. These two central aspects in the processes of political Bildung serve as the foundation of experience and the foundation of action in political Bildung.

In terms of ambivalent experiences, the analysis focus on inclusion and exclusion in school communities, the vulnerable everyday life, the care of the system, and a place to be together. The analysis of school communities shows, on one hand, positive communities where participants experience diversity, self-expression, acceptance, and recognition. On the other hand, some participants describe negative experiences with distance between pupils, lack of acceptance, and large classes, leading to well-being problems. This can lead to distress, which is followed by an analysis of the physical and mental dimensions of the vulnerable everyday life. Here, both a partial acceptance of a performance orientation and
a subtle resistance to it are identified. Participants’ reflective resistance to the culture of perfection and other stress factors are expressed through creative expressions and social relations. In terms of the system’s care, assistance from the social and health system is reported, but there are also problems with mistrust and lack of cohesive efforts. The analysis of places to be together shows that good places for young people provide opportunities for socializing and unplugging, while bad places are characterized by limited interactions and
insecurity. There is also a search for alternative spaces for young people with a communitybuilding function as a counterpoint to spaces with an instrumental function. Overall, the participants’ ambivalent experiences reveal a number of approaches to societal critique, highlighting the potential for lifeworld-oriented perspectives as a counterpoint to systemoriented perspectives.

In relation to the participants’ dedications to the world, the formation and organization of communities, material expressions, interventions in public spaces, and deliberative processes are analyzed. Regarding the formation and organization of communities, it is observed that community-building actions most often occur in leisure life rather than in school life, suggesting that certain leisure-based community practices could be implemented in schools as part of political Bildung processes. However, there are limitations in transferring
these practices from leisure to school due to the subcultural character of some leisure communities. The next dedication involves material expressions, ranging from expressing oneself through clothing to living a green life. These material expressions can contribute to political Bildung by strengthening competencies for taking a stand and self-expression. Participants’ interventions in public spaces are also analyzed. Here, their practices varied between everyday use and more intervening use. The latter could be demonstrating alternative uses of public spaces or addressing societal issues. Finally, deliberative processes
are analyzed, where young people participate in conversations aimed at influencing the political-administrative framework of their everyday life. These processes show possibilities for transforming private interests into common positions, but also face challenges such as institutional one-sidedness and individual orientation, which can limit public expression and the potential for political Bildung. Overall, the participants’ dedications to the world demonstrate the potential for these dedications in political Bildung processes to
complement ambivalent experiences by being a response to them and thereby creating a connection between experience and action.

The final analysis deals with how the bridge from the lifeworld to the public can be concretized, with a special focus on the role of municipal youth work. This was explored through an action research process. Two of the sub-processes involved increasing electoral participation among young people and reorganizing the Holbæk Youth Council. These processes supported democratic Bildung but had limited openings for political Bildung. Another process, which included a future workshop with some of the interview participants, showed a greater degree of experience responsiveness and lifeworld orientation. Additionally, a development process for youth spaces was created, which, however, lacked a concrete implementation plan. These processes demonstrated the potential in municipal
youth work to contribute to political Bildung and connect young people’s engagements with a municipal public sphere. These potentials can be realized with a higher degree of lifeworld orientation and experience responsiveness, as well as seeking coherence between experience and action.